A Love That's True
by Mr. Toffee
Summary: A story of the joy and the pain that true love reveals in a little girl.
1. Children's Story

_**Chapter one finds us on the eve of the great escape.**_

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><p>Ginny awoke suddenly in the middle of the night to the sound of a strange noise coming from the kitchen. It sounded as if someone had tripped over a stool. Ginny sat up in her bed and listened carefully.<p>

"Ron, you clumsy git. Be careful!"

"Yeah. Mum'll freak if she catches us."

"Okay, okay. Sorry guys. Let's just hurry."

Ginny, her curiosity piqued, got up from the bed, put on her robe and slippers, and quietly tiptoed down the windy stairs of the Burrow.

"And what do you three think you're up to?" asked Ginny to Fred, George, and Ron as she walked into the kitchen. The boys were in the process of sneaking out the back door when they heard their sister.

"Shhh! Be quiet Gin!" whispered George.

"Mum can't know we're leaving," said Fred.

"Where are you off to anyway?" questioned Ginny.

"None of your business, Ginny!" whispered Ron harshly, "Now go back to bed."

This made Ginny very irritated. For years Ginny's brothers had been excluding her from doing anything fun with them, be it playing Quidditch or something a bit more mischievous. Ginny was fed up.

"Let me come with you," said Ginny assertively.

"No way!" said Fred and George together.

"Why not?"

"Because it's, uh, too dangerous," said Ron, not even convincing himself by his own response.

"Dangerous?" asked Ginny excitedly, a grin forming on her face, "What are you guys planning on doing?"

"We can't tell you, Gin," said Fred.

"Oh, come on. I'm not Percy, you know."

The three boys all looked at each other, frowns on their faces. They then walked over to a far corner of the kitchen and began quietly discussing Ginny's request. Ginny stood and watched anxiously as her brothers talked over what her plans for the rest of the evening would be: departing with them or going back to her room.

After a few moments of furtive discussion, the boys walked back to her.

"Fine, Ginny," sighed Ron, "You can tag along."

"Excellent!" said Ginny jubilantly.

"Shhh!" whispered the three boys.

"Sorry," squeaked Ginny through a sizable smile.

"Now let's get going," said Ron frantically, "We have to be back before Mum wakes up."

"Right," said Fred, "I'll start the car."

"The car?" questioned Ginny as Fred ran outside, "Dad's flying car? How far are we going?"

"Surrey," replied Ron.

"Why?"

"We'll explain in the car," said George, who was standing next to the back door, "Now c'mon. I can hear that Fred's venture was successful and we'd best be off."

As Ron and Ginny moved towards the door, they could hear that George was correct. Their father's Ford Anglia was purring like a cat, well, like a very old cat.

The three promptly ran outside and climbed into the car, George in the front seat next to Fred and Ron and Ginny in the back. As soon as all the doors were closed, Fred took the car up towards the night sky.

"Now please tell me," asked an excited Ginny, "why are we going to Surrey?"

"We're gonna rescue Harry!" said Ron gleefully, happy he didn't have to whisper anymore.

"Harry Potter?" asked Ginny, growing very pale.

"Who else?" said the twins together.

"Um, on second thought, could you please take me back, Fred?"

"What?" exclaimed Fred, turning around to face her, "Why?"

"I'm actually feeling a bit tired," said Ginny, not looking her brother in the eye, "I think I'd better go to bed."

"Wasn't it you who was just pleading with us to let you come along?" asked Ron indignantly.

"I know," said Ginny, feeling much more ashamed than she was tired, "Could you please just take me back though?"

"All right, if that's what you really want," said Fred, slightly suspicious.

Luckily, Fred hadn't gone too far from the Burrow yet, so it didn't take him too long to turn around and fly back home.

When the car was firmly planted on the ground near the Weasley's dilapidated garage, Ginny opened the car door and stepped out. Fred and George rolled down their windows and stuck their heads out the car.

"Goodnight, Ginny!" called the twins with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Yeah, see ya Ginny," said the more subdued Ron from inside the car.

"Bye," said Ginny sheepishly.

As the car took off for the second time, Ginny could faintly hear Ron saying, "I'll never understand girls."

Ginny walked somberly back into the kitchen and then navigated her way up the stairs and back to her bedroom. After she closed the door, she slid her back down it and buried her face in her hands.

"_What's wrong with me?_" she thought, "_I would love to see Harry Potter. Last year, when I met him, I barely even got to speak to him and this could have been my chance to properly introduce myself. So why did I have to open my mouth and ask to be taken home?_"

Ginny thought about this for a while. She came to a conclusion after asking herself this question: "_What would he have thought of me?_" That's what she was scared of, his opinion of her. What if he didn't like her as much as she liked him?

"_Well, that's almost certain to be the case,_" she thought solemnly, "_I mean, he's so incredible. He's done so many amazing things._"

Ginny had grown up listening to the story of the Boy Who Lived her whole life and thus had gained a large fascination with him that had evolved into quite a substantial crush. Luckily for her, after Ron returned home from Hogwarts, he had wasted no time in telling Ginny all about Harry's extraordinary exploits during the previous school year. Listening to Ron describe Harry's triumphs in Quidditch and his second victory over the Dark Lord made Ginny even more infatuated with the boy than she already was.

That's why she was so apprehensive about seeing Harry that night. She was scared to death of not being interesting enough for him.

"_What's so special about me?_" thought Ginny as she climbed into her bed and fell asleep.

...

Several hours later, Ginny woke up for the second time after hearing the familiar sound of mum preparing breakfast. Temporarily forgetting the events of the night before due to morning drowsiness, Ginny ran downstairs wearing only her nightdress and slippers. When she reached the kitchen, she immediately realized what had caused all those dreams about Harry Potter the night before. She quickly let out a small squeal and ran back upstairs.

Ginny stood in the middle of her room, panting, heart racing, both thrilled and terrified at the same time.

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><p><em><strong>Quandary.<strong>_


	2. Sittin' In My Car

_**A reflection set in scarlet locomotion.**_

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><p>Ginny sat in her seat with the left half of her face pressed lightly against the cold surface of the window. She was sharing a compartment with three other first years, each looking more nervous and uncomfortable than the last. The only word any of them had said to each other was "hi," and even that did not come easily for Ginny's three anxious compartment mates. Ginny wasn't nervous, though, she was just a bit disappointed. In the car ride to Kings Cross, Ginny had been working out how she was going to talk her way into the Ron, Hermione, and <em>Harry's<em> compartment without it being too awkward. For weeks since that magnificent day when Harry had arrived at her home, Ginny felt as if she had done nothing except embarrass herself every time she came into contact with him. That's why she was so intent on making this plan to sit amongst them go as smoothly as possible. When her dad finally found a parking space near the train station, Ginny had worked out exactly what she was going to say to the trio. She was going to ask Harry for help lifting her trunk into the train and that would lead her to ask the trio if she could put it with their luggage and then if she could sit with them. A fairly simple plan, but potentially very effective.

However, Ginny never even got the opportunity to try out her plan. Her family and Harry had arrived quite late to King's Cross Station and thus were in a frantic rush from the moment they left the Ford Anglia. The last time Ginny saw Harry or Ron was outside the barrier to Platform 9¾; she took one quick glance at Harry before her mother pulled her through the barrier with her. After she had made her way onto the Hogwarts Express, she waved to her parents, who were doing the same from the platform, as the train pulled out of the station. She then began her search for the trio. Luckily, because of the rush they were all in, Fred and George had offered to store her trunk in the compartment they were sharing with Lee Jordan so she didn't have to worry about hauling that massive thing around.

Ginny walked from coach to coach, up and down the long corridor of the Hogwarts Express. But as hard as she looked, there was no sign of any of the three she sought out. During her second trip past, Ginny finally discovered Hermione sitting next to a short, plump boy in a compartment near the front of the train. Still not a trace of the other two, though; still not a trace of Harry.

After her fourth expedition through all the coaches, carefully analyzing the face of every jet-black haired boy she saw through the compartment windows, Ginny finally lost hope of ever finding Harry and settled on one of the only compartments that wasn't full. She would have sat with her brothers or Hermione, but she saw that both of their compartments were full when she walked past them.

And that's what brought her here, sitting with a group of uneasy first years instead of with the boy she really wanted to spend time with. But the worst part of it all was that Ginny was now forced to wonder why she had been so unable to locate Harry and Ron.

"_Is it possible that they were hiding from me?_" she thought fearfully, "_Maybe they saw me walking down the corridor and hid under their seats or something._"

Tears began to form in Ginny's eyes.

"_He probably thinks I'm weird. I mean, all I do around him is knock things over and turn red. How could he possibly think any differently?_"

Ginny quietly began to sob. She took her head off the windowpane to hide her tear-streaked face, but that didn't prevent her neighbors from taking note of her obvious sorrow. Becoming aware of the three pairs of eyes staring at her, Ginny quickly stood up and hurried out of the compartment. She ran past scores of happy, laughing faces, seen behind compartment windows, towards the coach's restroom. When she was a few feet away from her destination, wiping tears on her sleeve, she ran into what at first seemed to be a bushy, brunette mass. Ginny fell to the ground and, upon closer inspection of her hindrance, realized it was Hermione Granger who she had just stumbled into. Hermione was also on the ground, and both girls were clutching the portion of their head where they had bumped into each other.

"Ouch," said Hermione, wincing a bit, "Oh, hello Ginny. What's wrong?"

Hermione had noticed Ginny's red, swollen eyes and the tears streaming down her face and was naturally concerned.

"Oh, no-nothing Hermione," said Ginny hastily, getting up and turning her face away from Hermione's gaze, "I was just going to the restroom."

"So was I," said Hermione, seeing that Ginny wanted to move on to another subject, "but we'd better use one in a different coach seeing as someone has released a portable swamp in the one back there.

Hermione gestured in the direction that she had just come from and Ginny noticed some rather greenish looking water seeping out of from under a door.

"Come on we can walk to the next coach together," said Hermione, taking Ginny by the arm.

The girls walked down the corridor towards the door to the next coach, Ginny avoiding the inquisitive eyes of the first years she had been sharing a compartment with when they passed them.

"By the way," said Hermione, "I was meaning to ask you, have you seen Ron or Harry? I looked in every compartment on the train when I reached the platform, but I didn't see them in any of them. I eventually had to put my trunk somewhere so I decided to sit with my friend Neville just as the train was preparing to leave."

"_I wonder why Harry and Ron were hiding from Hermione,_" thought Ginny, genuinely surprised to hear this, "_I thought she was at least their friend._"

"I noticed you were doing something very similar shortly after the train departed," said Hermione.

Ginny gave a shocked look, which quickly gave way to one of sheer embarrassment.

"So who were you searching for?" asked Hermione, a sly smile appearing on her face.

"No one!" said Ginny rapidly, "I was just looking for somewhere to sit."

"Oh, so that's why I saw you pass by four times, because you couldn't find anywhere to sit."

"Ye-yeah," said Ginny, suddenly very interested in her own feet.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Harry.

Ginny's eyes grew very wide as her face grew very red. Ron must've told Hermione about how much Ginny had talked about Harry over the summer in one his many letters to her. Hermione gave Ginny a comforting smile. Ginny, despite her embarrassment, appreciated this gesture. The prospect of someone discovering her secret had always frightened Ginny, but with Hermione it now seemed like it could be a great relief. Having a confidant, maybe even a friend, in Harry's inner circle could be very beneficial to Ginny and possibly help her act less awkward in front of him. However, this still didn't change the fact that _Harry_ and Ron were hiding from Hermione and _her_.

"Look at that!"

Hermione and Ginny were walking past Fred and George's compartment when they heard Lee Jordan shout and point out the window. Fred, George, Lee, and the other Gryffindor fourth year they were sharing their compartment with all rushed to the window and looked out, up towards the sky.

George turned around and saw Hermione and Ginny watching them and yelled, "Get in here, you two! You've got to see this!" The girls did so and looked out the window as well. Ginny's heart leaped. They saw a flying Ford Anglia.

"_I guess he wasn't hiding from me after all_," thought Ginny.

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><p><em><strong>Felicity <strong>_


End file.
